


Fishy Business

by IAmANonnieMouse



Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: M/M, Sushi, arthur doesnt know how to use chopsticks, but we love him anyway
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:55:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26045374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IAmANonnieMouse/pseuds/IAmANonnieMouse
Summary: “Dig in, Arthur!” Ariadne called, brandishing her chopsticks. “It’s delicious!”“Um,” Arthur said eloquently. “Where can I get a fork?”Everyone stopped to stare at him.“It’s sushi,” Dom said slowly. “We’re in Japan.”Arthur nodded. “I know. But I don’t know how to use chopsticks.”(Now with aChinese Translationby the lovelyDerivat!)
Relationships: Arthur/Eames (Inception)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 71





	Fishy Business

**Author's Note:**

  * For [deinvati](https://archiveofourown.org/users/deinvati/gifts).



> Happy birthday to youuuuu, happy birthday to youuuuuu, happy birthday to dee-day-die-nvatiiiiiiiii. Happy birthday to youuuuuuu!

Arthur was starting to think that he had lost his mind. Maybe he had ended up in some parallel universe where everyone else was batshit crazy.

There was a naked man in front of him, and all his friends were daintily plucking food off his body like this was a normal, everyday occurrence. And, okay, maybe the man wasn’t _completely_ naked — Arthur had peeked a moment ago and realized there was a small scrap of fabric covering his, erm, _that_ — but his friends were still _way_ too comfortable eating food that was resting on his extremely-exposed skin.

“Dig in, Arthur!” Ariadne called, brandishing her chopsticks. “It’s delicious!”

“Um,” Arthur said eloquently. “Where can I get a fork?”

Everyone stopped to stare at him. Including the mostly-naked man on the table. Stool? Bench? Whatever. There was a lot of judgement going around.

“It’s sushi,” Dom said slowly. “We’re in Japan.”

Arthur nodded. “I know. But I don’t know how to use chopsticks.”

“Arthur,” Yusuf said in a tone that meant _I’m very disappointed in you, how are we even friends?_

Arthur got that a lot.

But hey, at least the mostly-naked man had stopped staring at him. He had probably written Arthur off as ignorant, or dumb. 

“Chopsticks are easy,” Ariadne insisted. She grabbed a fresh pair, then grabbed his right hand and forced his fingers around them. 

“You just rest this one here,” she said, pointing at his middle finger, “and maneuver this one with these.” She pointed at his pointer finger and thumb. “See?” She picked up hers and clicked them against each other a couple times. “Easy!”

Arthur attempted to copy her, then watched in horror as the chopsticks went flying out of his hand. One almost hit the almost-naked man in the eye, and based on his glare, he was definitely labelling Arthur as dumb, ignorant, _and_ idiotic. 

But the other… The other went flying over his shoulder and hit a man in the back.

Arthur quickly turned back around and wondered if he was too small to fit under the table-stool-bench the mostly-naked man was lying on. Then, Arthur wondered if he really wanted to be stuck under said man, considering his state of dress. Or undress, as it were.

Then, he felt someone tapping him on the shoulder and he realized it was too late to do anything, and his last thoughts were going to be about naked men and tables.

“‘Scuse me,” said a man with a British accent. “Think you dropped this, mate.”

Arthur slowly turned around, bracing himself for a fist to the face. The man was smiling and holding out the chopstick in a very non-threatening manner. His teeth were crooked, which was a shame, because Arthur usually didn’t date men with crooked teeth. 

Arthur didn’t know why he was thinking about dating men right now.

“Thanks,” he said, after a long enough pause that he sounded like an asshole. “Sorry about that.”

“No problem,” British Dude said. His smile widened, showing off more of his teeth. Really, such a shame. “I was bad with these for ages, too.”

“Uh-huh,” Arthur said intelligently.

British Dude was still smiling. 

Ariadne kicked Arthur under the table and mouthed something at him. Her eyes were overly wide. Maybe she wasn’t feeling well. 

“Oh, that isn’t fair,” British Dude said.

Arthur glanced back up at him. “What isn’t?”

“Your bloke is way prettier than ours.”

Arthur blinked. “I beg your pardon?”

British Dude gestured at the mostly-naked man on the table-stool-bench thing. Unlike Arthur, the man seemed to have immediately understood British Dude’s comment, because he was smiling. He looked a little flushed, too. Maybe he was sick. Arthur thought that was rather unsanitary.

“Well, _clearly,_ ” Ariadne said, “the only solution to that is for you to sit with us.”

British Dude laughed. “You drive a hard bargain, but I accept.” He sat down next to Arthur, then reached across the mostly-naked man to shake Ariadne’s hand. “I’m Eames. And you are?”

“Ariadne. The two guys still stuffing their faces are Dom and Yusuf. And the guy who threw a chopstick at you is Arthur.”

“Ari!”

“What? You did!”

Eames chuckled and rested his hand on the back of Arthur’s chair. “That’s alright, I found it charming.”

Arthur thought that was rather generous of him. “I could do better if I had a fork,” he said. 

Eames grinned at him, crooked teeth and all. They were getting less unfortunate by the minute. “Nonsense, love, we can get you up and running in no time.”

He leaned in against Arthur’s side and covered Arthur’s hand with his own. “Now remember,” he murmured directly into Arthur’s ear, “it’s all about the fingering.”

Arthur blinked. “Um?”

Across the table, Ariadne almost choked on a piece of sushi. Served her right for inviting this guy to sit with them.

“You seem like a man who appreciates precision,” Eames continued, “so I bet you’ll be a natural at this. You just need to be a little patient, and a little gentle. Can you do that for me, darling?”

Arthur watched as Eames carefully maneuvered the chopsticks in their hands. He lifted a slice of...something, and brought it to Arthur’s mouth.

“Seriously?” Arthur asked.

“Were you planning to starve all night?” Eames asked innocently.

At a loss for what to do, Arthur opened his mouth.

Across the table, Yusuf was staring at him strangely. Arthur couldn’t really blame him.

“So, Dom,” he said semi-desperately, “how’s that meeting tomorrow going to go? Anything I should be focusing on in particular?”

“Oh, well–” Dom jumped, suddenly, then glared at Ariadne. “Uh, we can talk about it later. Don’t worry about it tonight.”

Ariadne grinned like she’d won the lottery. Which made no sense, since she wasn’t even presenting tomorrow.

Eames chuckled and leaned in closer, until he was pressed fully along Arthur’s side. “Tell me about yourself, darling. What do you do for fun?”

“For fun?” Arthur glanced at him. “Usually the question is, ‘What do you do for work?’”

“That’s so bland, though,” Eames said. “That doesn’t let me know the real you.”

Arthur blinked. “Why do you want to know the ‘real me’?”

Eames smiled fondly and rested his hand over Arthur’s on the chopsticks again. “Let’s try this one more time, shall we?” 

And that was how Arthur ended up letting a strange, British man essentially feed him sushi all night. 

When it was time to leave, Eames held out Arthur’s jacket for him to shrug into and walked with Arthur out the door. 

“Thank you for a lovely evening, darling,” he said at the curb. 

Arthur tucked his hands in his coat pockets. Everyone else had somehow vanished into the night, so it was just the two of them. And this was suddenly starting to sound like the end of a date. “Um,” he said eloquently. “You too. I mean, thank you. I mean–”

Eames smiled and took a step closer, hooking a finger in the sleeve of Arthur’s coat. “You know,” he said, “normally, when I spend the night with a handsome bloke, I kiss him goodbye.”

Arthur blinked. “You do?”

“Mhm.” Eames leaned in slightly. “Do you have an opinion on the matter?”

“Well,” Arthur said slowly, “I don’t let just anyone feed me sushi off a scantily-clad man.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. And besides,” he said, gaining confidence, “I was gentle all night, just like you asked. Don’t I get a reward?”

Eames barked out a laugh and smoothly pulled Arthur into his arms. “Oh, darling,” he said with a grin. “Ask and you shall receive.”

When they parted several minutes later, Arthur licked his lips and said, “I think I might need a little more instruction. You know, for practice.”

Eames hummed. “I completely understand. Is your place closer or is mine?”

Arthur grinned. He’d have to send Ari a Thank You note in the morning, for picking this crazy sushi place. But first, he was going to practice a different set of skills.


End file.
